I-94

As I author this entry, I’m sitting at home on 25th Ave S on a lovely October 2016 evening with the windows open listening to the traffic on I-94 only a few blocks north of me. In 1958, when this section was being constructed, the city hadn’t crept much past 17th Ave S, meaning Lindenwood Park was just south of town. Fargo now stretches down the Red River of the North to 76th Ave South!

I-94 was a big deal in ND, with the first section of road ever constructed in any state being 12 miles between Jamestown and Valley City completed in 1958. All over ND as sections were completed ceremonial ribbons made of braided wheat were cut by dignitaries, marching bands played over the concrete, podiums were erected for speeches, and Ms. North Dakota was present.

I-29, Fargo’s other interstate, running entirely north and south through ND’s 217.5 miles, was not completed until the final section from Pembina to the Canadian border in 1977. To give you an idea of how new the Interstate system is in America, this 1977 completion made ND the first state in the union to have completed it’s Interstate system.

Of the seven states I-94 reaches through, ND’s section is the longest, stretching all 352.39 miles from the badlands to the flat lands at the base of the Red River Valley. Can you guess all seven states I-94 passes into? Answer: (IN, IL, WI, MI, MN, ND, MT)

Sources:

1. “Interstate-Guide: Interstate 94.” Accessed October 16, 2016. http://www.interstate-guide.com/i-094.html.
2. “Interstate-Guide: Interstate 29.” Accessed October 16, 2016. http://www.interstate-guide.com/i-029.html.